Rockable and wheelable toy horse



Nov.

H. C. FEIST ROCKABLE AND WHEELABLE TOY HORSE Filed sept. 19, 1952 United States` Patent() 2,725,237 ROCKABLE AND WHEELABLE TOY HORSE Henry CarlY Feist, East Hampton', Conn., assignorto 'I-lre` N. N. Hill Brass Company, East Hampton, Conn., af corporation of Connecticut v Application September 19, 1952,. Serial l`1o..31"0',45`9`v 6 Claims. (Cl. 28B-15.22?

This. invention relates.` generally totoy horses, and.

more particularly to: toy horses of thetype-wh-ich children to a horses gait when the child thereon merely exerts its natural efforts to wheelthe toy horse on the oor or.

ground.

Itis al further'object of. the' present invention tol provide a toy horse of this type which, in consequence of the natural efforts of ak child thereon towheel it onthe oor or ground, will rock in such a fashion thatA the bobbing motion of the toy horse will distinctly be felt but not readily seen by the child, with. the resultv that thechild will not be frightened when riding., thetoy horsel and will nevertheless experience thrills-v similar tol thosel affordedr by conventional: rocking horses for which` the child is far too young.

Another object of the present invention? is` to provide a toy horse ofthisy type which is entirely safefor mounting by even smaller children that arel as yet incapable of wheeling the toy on the floor,j and which will rock slightly and harmlessly every time achild: mounts the same or goes into` motionsy that momentarily relieve or vary its weight: @n.the. toy horse.

It is afurther objectof. the presenty inventionto provide atoy horseA of. this typewhich, on merely being borne down, or. pouncedt upon. by a,v child' on top,z will notfonly rockv but move on the.l ground,v so thatthe.A overall motion of. thev toy horse yexperienced by the: childwillbe somewhat. similar; to thev galloping,r gait: of a` realihorse.'

2,725,237 Patented Nov. 29, 1955 ICC provide a toy horse of this type which is extremely simple in constructiom yet highly attractive in appearance and performance to children of various ages, and which readily lends. itself to eiiicient mass production at low cost.

Further objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following, considered in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying. out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 isa side view of a toy horse embodying` the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front View of the toy horse as seen inthe direction of the arrow 2in Fig. 1; y l

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the toy horse as seenin the direction of the arrow 3 in Fig. l.;

Fig. 4 is` an enlarged fragmentary section through the toy horse taken substantially on the line 4-4- of Fig: 3; and

Fig. 5A is a View of the toy horse similar tol Fig. 1'., but showing the same in one of its different rocking positions during use.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularlyto Figs. 1V to 3 thereof, the reference numeral 10 designates a toy horse having a body 12 with a head portion 1'4 and a tail portion. 16, fore andy hind legs 18 and' 2K0#a respecti-vely, and a saddle-like seat 2-2.` The body 12v with its head and tail` portions 14 andv 1.6. may conveniently and economically be'made ofav wooden board, suitably contoured to resemble the general outline: of aV horses f body, headand tail. The seat 22y may also be made of A further. object of the: present invention is to provide a. toy horse of. this type whichmay. safely, be used for stillv smaller children. asy a simple wheeler. on which" they may be, placedby their elders. and. rolled-i about on the floor.

It, is another. object ofthe present inventionl f'o.. provide a toy horse of this type which despite its rockability offers hardlyv any possibility t'o hurt or injure a child playingwith it' in tlie: intended manner 'orev'e'n in amanner not intended' or contemplated; 1 A

' It is a further object offtliepresentV invention toprovide atoy= hoi-sel of this type offwhieli the fore andi hihd`\ legs arev so spaced that they a'tordi a stable-support for: the toyon the floor," and2 are-'providedwith wheelsibymea'ns ofi" which the toy.: may bei: rolled'- om the: iloor, and the fore' legs;l are? rigidi with. the: horseis bodyil while: theI hind legs.l ane pivoted on. the", body andi react: against:` ai well hiddenl compression spring; to impart af slight' rocking motion: tot the' toy; horse every,- time the` samef isf-borne down'zuponi.

It: isa still another: object: ofi ther-present, invention to a wooden board, suitably contoured to resemble asaddle'.

The forev legs 1S may conveniently be in the. form.V of wooden bars: which are firmly secured, as by bolts 24 and nuts 26, to the bodyy 12. near the front: endl thereof. The fore legs 18 are disposed on opposite sidesof. the body 12 and forma frame of inverted Vshapel (YFig-.f 2) for the supportv of the f ront of the horses body on the oor or ground. The fore legs 18y are, in this instance, provided with wheels 28- which may be carried by the endsof an axle 30, suitably journalled in the? lower ends of the fore legs. The fore legs may depend from the horses body 1-27 in any suitable disposition, and they a-re in thisinstance: slightlyinclined forwardly.

The hindlegs- 20,. which may also beinr the formf of wooden bars,l are pivotally connected, by bolt means 32, for instanceywiththe horse-s bodyy 12, and formi a frame ofA inverted V-shape similarly as the fore legs- 18.1 The hind. legs 20, which. are also: disposed onoppositesides of. the horses body 1-2, are intermediate their ends reenforced by a cross-tie 34= whichin this instance isv a wooden spacer firmly clamped' to the hind* legs'byfbolt and nut means 36. Thefhind legsl 2()1 are providedwith wheels: 38.:k which may be carr-iedby the ends ofi an1 axle 40;.suitably journalledf in the lower endsof the'hindelegs.4

The' pivotally suspended hind. legs- 20 ont the horses body are adapted toimpart a rocking, motion to the toy horse when' ai childmounted thereon rides the horse. To this end-,fa compression-type spr-ing. 42 urges the hind legs` 20f into the normal' position shown in Fig, 1,- in which the spacer 34l between these legsbearsV againstA a bellylike; contour portion. 44 of.l the horsesl body. The spacer 34- andi the` tail portion 16 ofthehorsesbodyare provided with substantially aligned. sockets 46r andi 48; respectively, in. which ythe` opposite ends off the compression springv may conveniently be seated (see particularly Fig.. 4),.-

It--willbe--notedl from Fig'.- l thati the hindlegs 2i) are in their normal positionl inc-lined; rearwardly and.l down wardlyfrelatively' steeply to thevflloor o1' ground-onwhich the, toy; horse stands. According-ly, a childmounting the.. toy horse and bearing-:downloadt: as shown inFig; 5,

will cause the hind legs 20 to swing about their pivot support 32 into a position of less steep inclination to the floor or ground, against the tendency of the spring 42 to return the hind legs to their normal position. The aforementioned swing of the hind legs 20 into a position of less steep inclination to the floor or ground will result in a correspondingT lowering of the rear of the toy horse, imparting thereby to the child the sensation of a rocking horse. When the child in its natural effort of merely wheeling the toy horse on the floor or ground repeatedly bears down on and partially lifts its weight from the seat 22, the rolling or wheeling motion of the toy horse is accompanied by repeated rocking motions, much to the delight and amusement of the child.

The instant toy is noteworthy in that it is not only harmless to play with, but will have distinct appeal and fascination for youngsters of considerably varying ages. Thus, the instant toy horse serves admirably as a carriage on which a child of even very tender age may be placed and wheeled on the oor or ground by an attendant. As the child grows a little older, it may safely be left alone with the toy horse, and the child will soon nd out that a rocking sensation is in store when mounting the horse and endeavoring to wheel the same. Before long the child will know that the rocking sensation experienced when riding on the toy horse is caused and controlled by the movement of. its own body, and the child may then rock the horse or wheel the same, or both, at its own election.

The instant toy is particularly safe as a rocking horse for youngsters of relatively tender ages which would ordinarily not be permitted to play with toy horses on conventional rockers. Thus, by tiltably mounting the hind legs of the instant toy horse on the horses body and having the fore legs rigid therewith, a child mounted on the toy horse will fully experience or feel the rocking motion of the horse, but will see only the slight bobbing motion of the horses head in front, with the result that the child will not lose its sense of balance and topple from the horse, which it probably would if it could observe the rocking motion of the horses rear. By the same token, even timid children that are easily frightened may safely ride the instant toy horse because they cannot possibly see anything alarming in the slight bobbing motion of the horses head, yet may experience the thrills of a rocking horse. In order that a child may experience substantially the full rocking motion of the toy horse, the seat 22 is preferably located in relatively close proximity to the hind legs 20 and remote from the fore legs 18.

Added to the thrill of experiencing a rocking motion with each downward thrust on the horses seat is a slight wheeling motion of the toy horse on the floor or ground, so that the action of the instant toy horse approaches even closer the action of toy horses on conventional rockers without, however, offering any of the hazards of the latter. Thus, forceful rearward rolling displacement of the hind legs 20 on each rocking motion of the toy horse will in most instances bring about a slight wheeling rnotion of the fore legs 18 and, consequently, a wheeling motion of the entire toy horse, so that a child riding on the horse will experience an overall motion which is somewhat similar to the galloping gait of a real horse.

The instant toy horse may, if desired, be devoid of any function as a wheeler by simply omitting the wheels on 'the fore legs 18 and having the latter rest directly on the floor or ground. Such a -toy horse would be especially safe for use as a rocker by children of very tender age. It is also fully within the scope of the present invention to have the fore legs tiltably mounted on the horses body and the hind legs rigid thereon, although the hereinbefore described and illustrated form of the toy horse is greatly preferred for reasons of maximum enjoyment and safety in use of the toy horse.

The safe use and enjoyment of the instant toy horse is even enhanced by the specific location and mounting of the compression spring 42. Thus, the spring 42 is rela- 4 tively hidden and hardly accessible to a child riding the toy'horse, and the ends of the spring are safely anchored out of reach of a child following its natural instinct of investigating the mechanism of the toy.

The instant toy horse is exceedingly simple and rugged in construction, yet highly fascinating in its action and safe in use, and readily lends itself to efficient mass production at very low cost. The instant toy horse may also be embellished to resemble a horse rather closely. This may readily be accomplished by providing the various parts of the toy horse with appropriate designs, such as the design D on the opposite sides of the head portion 14 of the horses body.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

l. A rocking horse, comprising a at board of an outline resembling a horses body, and of such uniform thickness as to give no indication of a horses body when viewed edgewise; a horses imitation head at the front of said body board; a saddle-like seat on top of said body board; front leg means rigid with and depending from the front of said body board; a pair of rear legs coaxially pivotally suspended vwith their upper ends from the opposite sides of said body board, said rear legs being formed of wooden bars cut away at their upper ends to provide ats which bear against said body board and are so inclined to the longitudinal axes of their respective rear legs that the latter diverge outwardly from said body board; a spacer between and secured to said rear legs and extending underneath said body board, said spacer and rear legs forming a rigid frame; and a compression-type spring interposed between said body board and spacer and normally urging said frame into a position in which the same is inclined relatively steeply to the floor or ground rearwardly and downwardly from said body board and said spacer is in stopping engagement with the bottom edge of said body board, said spring yielding to permit rocking of said frame into less steep inclination to the floor or ground on bearing down on said body board.

2. A rocking horse as set forth in claim l, in which the flats on said rear legs extend beneath said body board, and said spacer is interposed between said flats.

3. A rocking horse as set forth in claim l, in which said bodyboard has an integral downward extension of the same uniform thickness as and coplanar with said body board and having an outline resembling a horses tail, said tail extension having a recess in its edge, and said spring being seated with one end in said recess and bearing with its other end against said spacer.

4. A toy horse, comprising a flat board of an outline resembling a horses body; a horses imitation head on the front of said body board; irst leg means rigid with and depending from adjacent the front of said body board for supporting the same on the floor or ground; a frame of inverted V-shape having diverging legs and being pivotally suspended at the top from said body board intermediate the front and rear of the latter with said diverging legs being disposed on opposite sides of said body board, and said body board having a stop surface adapted to be `engaged by said frame in its normal position of relatively steep inclination to the floor or ground rearwardly of and downwardly from said body board; a compression-type spring interposed between said frame and body board, said spring normally urging said frame against said stop surface and yielding to permit rocking of said frame into less steep inclination to the oor or ground on bearing down on said body board; and a saddlelike seat on the top of said bodyboard and spaced from said head, said seat extending to both sides of said body board and being vertically above the pivot suspension of said frame.

5. A toy horse as set forth in claim 4, in which the center of said seat is substantially vertically above the pivot suspension of said frame.

6. A rocking horse comprising a at board of an outline resembling a horses body; a horses imitation head at the front of said body board; leg means rigid with and depending from adjacent the front of said body board for supporting the same on the oor or ground; a frame of inverted V-shape having a pair of diverging legs and being pivotally suspended at the top from said body board intermediate the front and rear of the latter, said diverging legs being disposed on opposite sides of said body board and said frame being normally disposed at relatively steep inclination to the oor or ground rearwardly of and downwardly from said body board; spring means operatively connecting said body board and frame and yielding to permit rocking of the latter into less steep inclination to the oor or ground on bearing down on said body board; and a saddle-like seat on the top of said body board vertically above the pivot suspension of said frame and spaced from said head so that an unseatable length of the top edge of said body board extends between said seat and head.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,193,690 Houghland Aug. 8, 1916 1,977,317 Maypole Oct. 16, 1934 .2,252,016 Markowski Aug. 12, 1941 2,462,814 Rodriquez Feb. 22, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,793/27 Australia May 24, 1928 602,675 France Dec. 29, 1925 134,456 Great Britain Nov. 6, 1919 206,679 Great Britain Nov. 15, 1923 289,360 Great Britain Apr. 16, 1928 

